Bloodstained Hands

My hands are dripping with blood
They are so hideously stained
My clothes are black with filth
My heart is racked with pain

Then I see lying at my feet
A young body mutilated
Face down in a pool of blood
An innocent one violated

Who performed the ghastly deed?
Could I have been the one?
I try to convince myself I couldn’t
And yet now the deed is done

My guilt, it dawns upon me
Tears cloud my dumbstruck stare
How could I have done this?
Despairing screams pierce the air

A child of the Good Father dead
Tormented by my own hand
Helpless now to save myself
My life He will surely demand

I wish I had never been born
Alas, it cannot be undone
I fall on my face in tears
Such a hate worthy, wretched one

A sudden feeling comes,
As weeping I lay in despair,
That I am no longer alone
I look up and someone is there

A Man is standing over me
And what a wondrous sight
His face shines with grace and love
His clothes are dazzling white

He stares serenely upon me
I hang my head in shame
He is so pure and innocent
Of murder I am to blame

The contrast is so vivid
I am dark and He is light
And yet He is unashamed
He seems to know my plight

He kneels and meets my eye
Understanding shows in His face
His smile mixed with peace and pain
He conveys forgiving grace

I don’t know how I know this
But He loves me despite my shame
His peace invades my inner soul
And mingles with my pain

As I kneel there broken
Sobs again choking my breath
Men-at-arms approach me
To avenge the child’s death

I summon the strength to rise
To meet them face to face
Willing to admit my guilt
Needing to bear my disgrace

But ere I can say a word
The Stranger steps up and speaks
“It was I who killed the child;
I am the one whom you seek”

Too dumbfounded to talk or act
I watch them come and bind Him
He does not struggle or resist
As they tie His hands behind Him

Then, as I am about to shout
To say He is the wrong man
The words just die in my throat
As I see the blood on His hands

I don’t know what to think
As they lead the Man away
Somehow I see it’s all right
Seems He wanted it this way

But what does it accomplish
This innocent One dying?
For I am left here stained
Before this child crying

I feel compelled to look again
Upon the victim of my crime
Weeping tears of repentance
I lose all track of time

Finally I lift up my eyes
And, behold an amazing sight
My hands are now free from stain
And my clothes are dazzling white